Bruins to retire Rick Middleton’s No. 16

The older I get and the more I see the game of hockey evolve, the more I respect Rick Middleton.

He’s a Hall of Famer in my mind, even though it’s about 0-in-10 that he ever gets the call now that lesser players have passed him in career statistics. The numerical standards are changing, just like they had several decades ago. With the advances of modern medicine, training methods and pro sports as a business overall, the Hockey Hall of Fame is not in the cards for Rick Middleton.

But the Bruins will do the most a franchise can on Nov. 29 when they raise his No. 16 to the TD Garden rafters and permanently remove it from the list of available jerseys. Inside the walls of TD Garden on that night, Middleton’s greatness will be rightfully acknowledged and celebrated, five days before he turns 65.

When Middleton was honored last November by The Sports Museum in its annual Tradition event, I had the privilege of writing about him for the event program and he told me that honor meant just as much as a Hall call would have because Boston is where he has made his life and the celebration would be shared with everyone close to him, those who have supported and loved him throughout the toughest of times.

Before he was a Bruin, Middleton was a flashy young New York Ranger but with some institutional New England knowledge, as the Rangers’ American Hockey League affiliate was the Providence Reds (see his conference call quote sheet below for more on that).

What he became in Boston was an amazing two-way player during the tough-love Don Cherry years, a 50-goal scorer and penalty killer in the opportunity-knocks Gerry Cheevers years, and a team captain over his final three years as a Bruin and in the National Hockey League.

Middleton’s uncanny ability to turn defensemen inside out was at the core of his skill, but his legacy endures because he was the ultimate finesse player playing the game courageously. He went through the game, he never shied away to the perimeter.

Middleton was a beacon of the sport’s beauty at a time when Bruins Nation was in need of a pick-me-up after the Bobby Orr era ended.

The two were ships passing in the night, Orr limited to 10 memorable games synced with the arrival of Brad Park and then out of the Boston lineup forever. With Orr’s unparalleled era over, the Bruins’ old guard had lost its luster, and on May 26, 1976, then-GM Harry Sinden traded Ken Hodge to the Rangers (where he reunited with glory-days linemate Phil Esposito).

The Bruins got Middleton, a fancy playmaking right wing with flying blond hair, a barrel full of moves, and discipline problems. Coach Don Cherry had done the heavy lifting of recreating the Bruins in his image, had his Samson pillars in Wayne Cashman and Terry O’Reilly, tremendous talent in Park and Jean Ratelle, and a ton of character.

Middleton grew his game in that context and emerged as one of Boston’s all-time greats and a beloved alumnus. He even serves as president of the Bruins Alumni and, residing in New Hampshire, still makes regular appearances wheeling and dealing at charity hockey games in community rinks.

It’s time for someone else to take the reins, as Middleton is getting a little worn out for that kind of work. But he hasn’t let the mileage affect his smile or the genuine manner in which he engages his admirers, hockey fans beaming with enthusiasm especially when they have a hockey-playing son at their side while meeting Nifty.

They want their kid to play the game like this guy, and tonight they are no doubt thrilled at the news that No. 16 is going where it belongs: upstairs.

Labine was basically Terry O’Reilly 20 years before Terry O’Reilly, just as the late ’50s Bruins challenged and tested (but without success) the dynastic Montreal Canadiens, same as the late ’70s when Middleton was a learning on the job.

Sanderson could have been the one being so honored, but substance abuse ruined his hockey career and nearly stole his life. The Turk was so popular that, during the Bruins’ glory days of the early 1970s, he was a rock star on skates. As a hockey player, he was the third-line center on a machine of a team, the NHL Rookie of the Year in 1968 and a master faceoff man. Sanderson left the Bruins in ’72 for the big money promised by the rival World Hockey Association, but returned to the Bruins before the league’s debut season had even ended. Sanderson wore No. 27 upon his return during that 1972-73 season, then donned No. 17 while Fred O’Donnell wore No. 16 prior to Boston’s in-season (1973-74) acquisition of Bobby Schmautz from the Vancouver Canucks for O’Donnell (a right wing) and rangy center Chris Oddleifson. O’Donnell, whose wife was nine months pregnant, refused to report, and the New England Whalers stepped in and offered O’Donnell a contract to play for them, which he did. Nonetheless, Sanderson would continue wearing 17 while Schmautz originally wore 16 as a Bruin. When Sanderson fell out of favor and disappeared from the lineup, Schmautz took on No. 17, a number he would wear until Andre Savard went to Buffalo in the summer of ’76. Schmautz then took Savard’s 11. After the 73-74 season, Sanderson was traded to the Rangers for lanky center Walt McKecknie.

Middleton didn’t want to leave the Bruins, but the team wanted to move on after losing the 1988 Stanley Cup to Edmonton. So Middleton intended to play the 1988-89 season in Europe in hopes that he might rejoin the Bruins in time for the playoffs, but an injury hastened his retirement.

[If you ever see the NHL-sponsored, 30-minute highlight show on the '88 playoffs, watch to the end and you'll see Middleton skating off the Northlands Coliseum ice in one direction and Wayne Gretzky heading off the other side to celebrate with his teammates. Neither player in that moment knows that he has played his final game for his team. ]

Short-term right winger Peter Douris wore 16 in Middleton’s wake, followed by Tim Sweeney. The best player to wear the number post-Middleton was big, Slovakian center Jozef Stumpel, who initially wore 48 before switching during the Bruins’ transition to their new arena 9 inches behind the old one. Stumpel was traded (with Sandy Moger) to the Los Angeles Kings in 1997 for Dmitri Khristich and Byron Dafoe (the throw-in goalie who became a Vezina runner-up), then returned in 2001 (with Glen Murray in the Jason Allison trade) and wore No. 22 before being again dealt to L.A. in 2003 (in a deal also involving draft picks coming and going, the most significant being Latvian RW Martins Karsums, whom the Bruins sent with Matt Lashoff to Tampa Bay for Mark Recchi.

If you think this meandering through tangential trivia was aimless, note that Recchi played until he was 43 and had helped the Bruins win the Stanley Cup. He is now a Hall of Famer.

Recchi is not among those whom I believe are less deserving of the call Middleton should get. He was fortunate to win the Stanley Cup with three different teams including opposite ends of his NHL career, but Recchi was more good than lucky. He had cunning, guile and compete in spades. Definitely a Hall of Famer. You know when I knew the Bruins were going to win Game 7 in Vancouver? It was a play in the second period that did not produce a goal, but when Recchi dove over Roberto Luongo from the opposite side of the crease to try to reach a loose puck, it became apparent that the Bruins had a 43-year-old player that had won it twice before but still wanted it more than all those guys on the other team that had never won it. I didn’t realize I was out of my press-box seat, but as I said, “They’re going to win,” I felt Worcester Telegram colleague Rich Garven (known more for his Patriots coverage) tugging on my sleeve from the seat on my right.

Mark Recchi did that to me, and Rick Middleton many times more.

The people’s Hall of Famer is going to the TD Garden rafters, and rightfully so.

Then there is the unsolved case of Bill Cowley, which lingers through another jersey retirement, his No. 10 hanging in Anders Bjork’s stall instead of from TD Garden’s rafters. Especially after such a trying rookie campaign, nice that the kid gets to wear his Notre Dame number in the NHL. Only oversight is No. 10 belonged in the rafters long before any of the retirements Rink Rap has witnessed to going back to the no-waiting-period celebration of No. 4 in 1979.

Cowley was a centerman on two championship teams, twice won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP, and four times was named a First Team NHL All-Star. Cowley played more than 10 years (almost his entire career) with the Bruins. Had he kept his mouth shut, the center who “made more wings than Boeing” would have finished his career as a point-per-game player. But he thought he got a helper by mistake and told the scorer. Unfortunately, Cowley’s career ended on a sour note of a contract dispute with Art Ross. Decades continue to zoom on by, each one further obscuring this bad story that needs a good turn.

*BOSTON BRUINS PRESS RELEASE*

BOSTON BRUINS TO RETIRE RICK MIDDLETON’S NUMBER 16 JERSEY

BOSTON – Boston Bruins President Cam Neely announced today, July 31, that the team will honor Rick Middleton by retiring his number 16 jersey prior to the team’s game against the New York Islanders on Thursday, November 29.

“It was a great honor to call Rick today and let him know that he will join the group of retired numbers in the TD Garden rafters,” said Bruins President Cam Neely. “As a player and a person Rick embodies what it means to be a Bruin, and we are excited to celebrate his career with his family, friends and our fans on November 29th.”

“Mr. Middleton’s number 16 has long deserved to be raised to TD Garden’s rafters,” said Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs. “I look forward to participating in the events on November 29th as it will be a very special evening for Mr. Middleton and the entire Bruins organization.”

The 5-foot-11, 175-pound right winger led the Bruins in scoring four straight seasons from 1978-82 (tied Peter McNab with 40 goals in 1979-80), and also led the team in goals six straight seasons from 1978-84. He enjoyed his best season in 1981-82, when he was named a second-team All-Star after scoring a career-high 51 goals – joining Phil Esposito (5), Cam Neely (3), John Bucyk and Ken Hodge as the only 50-goal scorers in Boston Bruins history. Middleton also received the 1981-82 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, awarded annually to the “player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.”

Middleton passed the 100-point mark twice in his Bruins career. He tallied 44 goals and 59 assists for 103 points in 1980-81, and then notched 47 goals and 58 assists for 105 points in 1983-84, tying Ken Hodge for the most points by a right wing in franchise history. He was a key piece of the 1977-78 Boston Bruins, which was the only team in NHL history to feature 11 different 20-goal scorers in the same season. Peter McNab (41), Terry O’Reilly (29), Bobby Schmautz (27), Stan Jonathan (27), Jean Ratelle (25), Rick Middleton (25), Wayne Cashman (24), Gregg Sheppard (23), Brad Park (22), Don Marcotte (20) and Bob Miller (20) each reached or surpassed the 20-goal mark to help lead the team to an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final.

Middleton helped lead the Bruins to postseason appearances in 11 of his 12 seasons. In his 114 career playoff games, he totaled 45 goals (including eight game-winners) and 55 assists for 100 points, tying John Bucyk for the third-most postseason points (100) in team history. He holds the NHL record for most points in one playoff series with five goals and 14 assists for 19 points in the 1983 Division Final vs. Buffalo. He is also one of just three Bruins players (Phil Esposito, 1969 and David Pastrnak, 2018) to ever record six points in a playoff game (Game 4 of that series).

The Toronto, Ontario native was originally selected by the New York Rangers in the first round (14th overall) of the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft. He played two seasons with the Rangers from 1974-76, posting 46 goals and 44 assists for 90 points in 124 appearances, before being acquired by Boston in exchange for Ken Hodge on May 26, 1976.

#07/31/18#

FORMER BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD RICK MIDDLETON

On what this honor means to him…

Well, Joe, thanks for being on the call. You know, it’s something that, obviously, you think about especially over the last four or five years when nobody has worn the number 16, and you think well maybe, maybe it’ll happen. You never know for sure. I’m getting up there in age a little bit, so, and especially in the month of July it’s not really the type of call you think you’re going to get. And when Cam [Neely] called me, you know, every once in a while, we talk about different alumni stuff, and he just caught me so off guard with it that I actually got emotional when he said it because it was just a dream come true. And, you know, I don’t compare it to the Hall of Fame. It’s a special, special honor to me to be included with the other 10 people that are up there. A very special group of hockey players that date back to the beginning of the Boston Bruins, and to be included on that last I can’t even explain what kind of an honor that is.

On where he was and what he was doing when he got the call from Cam Neely…

I was actually at home just doing some paperwork and making some calls of my own. And I was actually on another line when Cam called. I saw his name, so it went to voicemail and he didn’t let anything on. He just said, “Hey Nifty, give me a buzz when you get a chance.” So, when I got off the call I called him back. I missed him, and then he called me back less than a minute later and after some small talk he said to me that I or we, he corrected himself, have decided that we’re going to, going to put your number up in the rafters next season. And, to me, it knocked me off the chair. It certainly was not something I expected from the call in July to hear something like that. Although, I can’t lie I’ve certainly thought about it many times, especially with no one wearing the no. 16 in a few years. It’s been in the back of my mind, but you never know when these things happen or if they’re ever going to happen, so when it hit me it was like a sledgehammer. And I’m still in shock. I’ve been telling my family and not I guess it just got released on the internet and twitter and all that, so I’m getting a lot of things and a lot of texts and a lot of calls right now from friends. So, it’s such a great day for me.

On his work with the Boston Bruins Alumni and his comfort level when all of the focus is on him during the ceremony in November…

Well, you know, it’s hard to think about. I remember I was with Terry O’Reilly when Terry’s jersey went up and, you know, being on the ice again in front of 18,000 people after all these years is going to be a little nerve wracking and then having to speak. My biggest worry is to forget somebody I should thank. I’ve already thought about that. But as president of the Bruins Alumni for the last 10 years — you know I didn’t start the alumni, running the way it is, Johnny Bucyk did it, passed it onto Bob Sweeney and then I took over about 10 years ago. And we, the way that John started it, still works today. We help raise money for a lot of different charities, youth hockey across New England every year. And the players — we have so many ex-Bruins in the area that we get to meet, a lot of them I had never met before, and play hockey with them.

It’s special for us, and I think it’s special for the people that are doing the games. I hope to continue for a couple more years. It’s starting to wear on me physically a little but still having fun at it. So, I’m just honored to be, to be as I said, a part of this group and this organization. The oldest U.S. hockey franchise in the NHL, and to be put up and honored amongst this group of men is a dream come true honestly. I can’t say anything else about it. I’m still in shock.

On how often he looks up at the rafters when he is at TD Garden…

Well, you know, usually we go up into the alumni room in the alumni suite on the ninth floor, so they’re about eye level. I can’t miss them, but you know where I’ve noticed them quite a bit lately is when I go over to Warrior rink. They’re really the only thing hanging up there, and I’ve seen it. I can’t lie, at times I’ve looked up between Milt Schmidt and Terry O’Reilly, there seemed to be a lot of room there, and I was just hoping one day, maybe, my name would go up, and today’s the day.

On the names of the influential people in his life who came to mind upon hearing this news…

Well it’s funny that you said that, I was, you know, just talking with my family about a couple people that I’d love to have there. And my old coach from my days growing up in Toronto that was really the main person, my main coach that helped me change my skating around, Because I was a scrawny little kid and not a strong skater; around the age of 13-16, in those three years, or I never would’ve made the NHL. His name is Frank Miller, and he’s in his 80s now in Toronto, so I’m hoping he’ll be able to make the trip down to enjoy this with me. You know and along the way Emile Francis was the coach and GM of the New York Rangers that ended up drafting me, so he was the guy that gave me the first chance, and if he didn’t do that I would never have ended up in Boston. And to be coached by Don Cherry, who kind of saw something in my game that was more than offensive type of a game and helped me realize what the complete NHL game was. And then Gerry Cheevers, who over those five years gave me all the ice time in the world that I would never have been able to put the numbers up that I did. And ultimately Terry O’Reilly, who I played with and under as my last coach, who always showed me what it took to be a Bruin and the guts and what you have to bring to the game every night. And Terry certainly showed that every night as a player and a coach. I was so fortunate to have all these people from the age of 13 on and even before that a fellow by the name of Glenn Mortley, who made hockey fun for me growing up that I never remembered anything, any bad moments from the game, and I don’t think a lot of people can say that.

On what Boston means to him and why he decided to stay after he retired…

Well, it’s funny. A lot of people don’t realize that I actually lived in New England and played in New England back before I was with the Bruins. The New York Rangers’ farm team back in 1973 was the Providence Reds. I lived in Cranston, Rhode Island when I was 19 years old and played against the Boston Braves. I got a taste of New England, and little did I know that, less than three years later, I would be back in New England living here, playing for the Boston Bruins. And, to be able to stay here and play here and play for 12 years with such a great organization as the Bruins and then raise a family, put some roots down, go into business after my career, coach my kids in hockey growing up and so on, and then get into it with the alumni.

The years just go by, and looking back, it’s been a great, great ride, and to have this honor bestowed to me at an age that I am now, I honestly never thought that it would happen. It was always hoping but never really thought about it, so I was really knocked off my feet when Cam told me today. It was a dream come true.

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Mick Colageo

Mick Colageo grew up in East Walpole, Mass., skating on Coburn's Pond and at 4 Seasons Arena. He has been writing about hockey since 1986 and covering the Bruins since 1991, is a voting member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, and ... Read Full